Green Innovation as Business Strategy in Small Manufacturing Businesses: Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Effects

The advent of technologies has reshaped the world of business as we know it, and prompted companies of all sizes to innovate in an effort to keep up with the ever-increasing demands and expectations of stakeholders. Several articles have explored the impact of innovation on the performance of businesses, yet little is known about the effects new technologies have on green innovation performance specifically in the context of manufacturing SMEs. Given the significant importance small businesses have in the global economy, the purpose of the research is to investigate how, through the theoretical lens of social cognitive theory, the adoption of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology can affect the green innovation performance of SMEs. Furthermore, the moderating role of green intellectual capital is also explored. A total of 152 responses were collected and later analysed through partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Results indicate that green intellectual capital effectively mediates the impact artificial intelligence adoption has on green innovation performance, while also providing insights on how said performance later affects the adoption of carbon-neutral business practices, and consequently leads to better financial and economic performance. The study features both practical and theoretical contributions. From a theoretical perspective, the study contributes to extant sustainability literature by exploring the context of SMEs, which have currently been underrepresented in research despite their importance in today's economy. The results also provide valuable insights to practitioners, as they show the potential of artificial intelligence for green innovation performance and the barriers SMEs have to overcome when it comes to the adoption of blockchain technology.